Success in a chosen profession can be a fleeting and temporary condition of circumstance attributed to the quality of an individual’s personal traits, while others may find the path to success at the alter of plain old dumb luck. As there is no singular set path to outdistancing your competition in the Human Race, the question arises as to whether talent or hard work are the most necessary components to emerge a winner. While both may serve as a vehicle to accomplish set personal goals, there are any number of other avenues that lead to the desired outcome in allowing an individual to get ahead in the work World. Personality, nepotism, and and an uncanny ability to "play the game" all can be used as effective tools in the professional arena.
Talent in a given area of endeavor is natural – it cannot be learned, bought or stolen, and true talent will always be recognized as the special gift that it is. To those individuals possessing exceptional talent, doors will open more easily to chosen fields of interest, and in the general course of life things seem to come naturally and flow more smoothly than for peers. When talent is combined with personal motivation in a chosen area, the probability of success is great, and the chances of failure are minimal. While natural talent is a wonderful tool for success, it can become a curse for those who rely upon it’s graces too heavily.
An individual who is a hard worker has the free expression of effort that allows them to motivate and promote success in others, simply by the presentation of setting a good example in the workplace. While those with talent are the creative minds in an organization, the people who work hard on a daily basis are the engine that drives the corporate machine forward. What may become problematic in the lives of hard workers is that their effort and superior work ethic can go overlooked in terms of being rewarded or promoted. In these instances it needs to be recognized early in a professional association, and if the benefit or hard work is unrewarded, the individual needs to look for other employment rather than languishing in obscurity for years.
The path to success is different for everyone, and to suggest that there is only one route via hard work or talent is a narrow view of the contest. The road is congested by the failure of those who had either talent or an outstanding work ethic, but lacked the energy or intelligence to combine them with other personal strengths to formulate a winning combination for a successful life. In the final analysis, talent or hard work may initially move an individual career from the starting block, but it takes much more than either to maintain a lead.
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